18.6.05

.Copyright IssuesCopyright wrongs: we can't let the music industry suits stifle creativity"BOB GELDOF is not the only superannuated rocker whose political gifts overshadow his more limited musical contributions to recent cultural progress. Sonny Bono, too, is a name currently buzzing through the Culture Department’s chill-pad in Cockspur Street, even though Bono departed his California stage set seven years ago. His biggest hit, you may recall, was the audaciously self-serving law he championed that extended United States copyright protection by 20 years. Worryingly, it is a tune that our own Culture Minister, James Purnell, appears unable to clear from his head."